The environment we live in influences, and in some ways, reflects who we are. Similar to how our bodies reflect the foods we eat, the places we visit and the people we meet reflect the way we think and believe.

Being raised in an inner-city neighborhood means you’ll likely live in the same neighborhood as an adult, while growing up in a middle-class area is a strong predictor of your future lifestyle. It’s difficult to escape the chains in which we are bound.

So how do you thrive in an environment that doesn’t support your goals?

The Count of Monte Cristo

In Alexandre Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo, the protagonist Edmond Dantès is set up for a promising future. He’s soon to become captain of a ship, newly engaged, and popular amongst his peers. However, his perfect life is about to take a turn for the worse.

Have you ever received criticism that you felt was unfair or downright spiteful? If so, here is an interesting Aesop’s fable:

A man and his son were once going with their donkey to market. As they were walking along by his side a countryman passed them and said, “You fools, what is a donkey for but to ride upon?” So the man put the boy on the donkey, and they went on their way.

But soon they passed a group of men, one of whom said, “See that lazy youngster, he lets his father walk while he rides.”

So the man ordered his boy to get off, and got on himself. But they hadn’t gone far when they passed two women, one of whom said to the other, “Shame on that lazy lout to let his poor little son trudge along.”

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” — Confucius

Overload has become the norm.

Every single day, we’re barraged with copious amounts of information. We’re told how we should spend our time, what we should eat, and where we should go. While we search endlessly for the answer, we usually end up where we began: in a bottomless well.

When you add in factors such as the rise of automated technology, increasing choices, and the pressure to keep up, is it any wonder that we feel swallowed up in everything?

The problem with these phrases is that they assume people can simply build up courage on their own to achieve their goals. It makes us think that if we just put in the effort and try hard enough, we can become confident.

What is a typical day in your life like? When you get out of bed in the morning, what are the most pressing matters that come up in your head?

For Shin Dong-hyuk, living in North Korea meant that torture, chronic hunger, and executions were a normal part of life. Born in a political prison camp, his everyday experiences included back-breaking labor and harsh beatings.

In order to survive, prisoners are encouraged to inform on one another and taught not to show affection towards others, including their own family members. Because of this, Shin felt little loyalty to his family, and later watched as his mother and brother were publicly executed.

He was later assigned to work at a textile factory, where he was forced to meet daily quotas under threat of physical punishments. But it was at the factory where he met a fellow prisoner who would change his life: Mr. Park. Unlike the young Shin, Mr. Park was a well-educated 40-year-old man who had visited places outside North Korea, including Germany and China.

Born in Massachusetts on January 22, 1747, Dexter had neither schooling nor money. He began life as a farm laborer alongside his father before becoming an apprentice to a Boston leather dresser at 16.

Five years later, Dexter completed his apprenticeship and moved to Newburyport, where he had his first stroke of luck. There, he met and married a wealthy young widow and purchased a large mansion using her money.

Dexter quickly became unpopular amongst his neighbors, who saw him as an ill-educated and unrefined man that married into money. Undeterred, he set out to increase his fortune by purchasing a number of large ships and launching an international trade business. When his neighbors heard the news, they purposely gave him bad business advice in the hopes that he would lose his fortune and move away.

These days, working long hours is seen as a badge of honor. Having little time to relax has become a source of pride that people frequently refer to when discussing work. You might hear about a hospital worker enduring 36-hour shifts, start-ups that use all-nighters to get ahead, or a company employee who burns the midnight oil to stay competitive.

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” seems to be the popular rallying cry of today.

A lot of the remedies we use to counteract low energy are immediate and have a short-term effect. For instance, a grueling week’s work is remedied by downing energy drinks to stay afloat. A grumbling stomach is fixed by ordering a cheesy pizza dinner.

These are quick methods that keep us going through long hours. The problem is, they aren’t sustainable in the long run. It’s like treating a wound with a band-aid: it’s fine for now, but something’s got to be done about it sooner or later.

Enter the Concept of Energy Surplus vs. Deficit

Think of your energy levels like a bank account. A healthy account has a sufficient amount of funds, where more money is deposited than taken out. Run your account into the negatives, however, and you face penalties that drain your account even more. Too many lapses in payments and your account can shut down completely. [Read more…]

On December 28, 1963, Randy Gardner, with the help of two classmates, went on a mission to find out how his body would respond if he stayed awake until January 8, 1964, making a total of 264 hours (or 11 days).

To begin, he woke up bright and early at 6 am, alert and energized. But by the second day, he had trouble focusing on his surroundings and recognizing objects given to him. By the third day, Gardner became grouchy and his speech began to slur. The day afterward, he imagined himself to be a Paul Lowe, a 200-pound football player, while he was barely 120 pounds.

The experiment was originally meant for a high school science fair, but news spread to Stanford researcher William Dent, who flew down to San Diego to get involved[1].

Whenever I struggled in something, I would complain, “Do I really need to do this? What’s the point?”

And of course, someone would respond by telling me something along those lines. It seemed as if I was supposed to take pride in hardship. Hard work, after all, is seen as a necessary evil to get anywhere.

Maybe people are right. To get good at anything, you have to be willing to do what most people won’t. You need to be willing to persist for a long time before you see results.

On the other hand, I couldn’t help but wonder about this phrase.

What exactly does it mean? What fits into the definition of being worthwhile?

Does the fact that something is difficult to master mean that it’s worth doing? The whole thing didn’t seem to quite make sense.

After all, we only have a limited amount of mental resources. Dedicating ourselves to one project means that we take away energy that could be spent working on something else.

I think that while this phrase sounds nice, it could be misinterpreted and used the wrong way. Today, let’s talk about two misconceptions when it comes to putting in effort and getting results.